Nong Het
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name =Nong Het
|native_name =
|settlement_type=Town
|image_skyline = Muang Nong Het.jpg
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|pushpin_map=Laos
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name ={{flag|Laos}}
|subdivision_type2 = Province
|subdivision_name2 = Xiangkhouang
|subdivision_type3 =District
|subdivision_name3 =Nong Het
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|timezone = Laos Standard Time
|utc_offset = +07:00
|coordinates = {{coord|19|29|44|N|103|59|13|E|display=inline}}
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|blank_name = Climate
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Nong Het, also Nong Haet, Nonghet, Muang Nonghet or Nonghed, is a market town in Xiangkhouang Province in northeastern Laos, located about {{convert|13|km}} from the border with Vietnam. It is the principal town of Nong Het District. It is located along Route 7, {{convert|119|km}} east of Phonsavan, along the road which passes through Muang Kham and Ban Na Sala on the way to Nong Haet.{{cite book|last1=Burke|first1=Andrew|last2=Vaisutis|first2=Justine|title=Laos|url=https://archive.org/details/laos00burk|url-access=registration|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=1 August 2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-568-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/laos00burk/page/171 171]}} Bus companies operating in the area have increased to cater for tourists.{{cite book|last1=Ray|first1=Nick|last2=Dragicevich|first2=Peter|last3=Louis|first3=Regis St.|title=Vietnam|url=https://archive.org/details/vietnam00rayn|url-access=registration|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=1 August 2007|publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-306-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/vietnam00rayn/page/195 195]}} The population is primarily Hmong peoples.{{cite book|last1=Smalley|first1=William Allen|last2=Vang|first2=Chia Koua|last3=Yang|first3=Gnia Yee|title=Mother of Writing: The Origin and Development of a Hmong Messianic Script|url=https://archive.org/details/motherofwritingo0000smal|url-access=registration|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=15 May 1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-76286-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/motherofwritingo0000smal/page/87 87]}}
History
Nong Het has a turbulent history of battles between the Ly and Moua warriors, Red Laotians and the Hmong. The Red Laotians once invaded, tying up local leaders and robbing the wealthy of the town.{{cite book|last=Chan|first=Sucheng|title=Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1cfSn2wRfYEC&pg=PT23|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=27 April 1994|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=978-1-56639-163-4|page=23}} Historically, two Hmong families have shared power in Nong Het, the Lo clan and the Ly clan.{{cite book|last=Evans|first=Grant|title=The last century of Lao royalty: a documentary history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpcMAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=21 July 2012|year=2009|publisher=Silkworm Books|isbn=978-974-9511-66-4|page=262}} In 1917, the French appointed Lo Bliayao of the Lo clan as chief of Non Het.{{cite book|last1=Lee|first1=Gary Y.|last2=Tapp|first2=Nicholas|title=Culture and Customs of the Hmong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RZEFgIhfdJEC&pg=PA13|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=October 2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-313-34527-2|page=13}}
The strategical position of Nong Het meant that it was an "important resupply and transshipment point" during the Indochinese and Vietnam War, and contained "approximately a dozen NVA warehouses".{{cite book|last=Webb|first=Billy G.|title=Secret War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N4-QoAv-zIUC&pg=PA168|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=13 September 2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4535-6484-4|page=168}}{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}} French colonial leader Doussineau was based at Nong Het during the Japanese invasion.{{cite book|last=Quincy|first=Keith|title=Harvesting Pa Chay's wheat: the Hmong and America's secret war in Laos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_9VAAAAYAAJ|accessdate=21 July 2012|year=2000|publisher=Eastern Washington University Press|isbn=978-0-910055-60-4|page=67}} Faydang, son of Lo Bliayao, moved his base from Xiengkhouang to Nong Het in 1961.{{cite book|last=Michaud|first=Jean|title=Historical Dictionary of the Peoples of the Southeast Asian Massif|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JG619Tq4ElkC&pg=PA88|accessdate=21 July 2012|year=2006|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-5466-6|page=88}} The Vietnamese built a {{convert|10|km}}-long road from Muong Xen to Nong Het to ease the transportation of Communist units to the Hmong base camp.{{cite book|last=Moyar|first=Mark|title=Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=phJrZ87RwuAC&pg=PA118|accessdate=21 July 2012|date=28 August 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-86911-9|page=118}}
The town also produced some notable Hmong leaders including Touby Lyfoung and General Vang Pao.{{cite book|last=Mote|first=Sue Murphy|title=Hmong and American: Stories of Transition to a Strange Land|url=https://archive.org/details/hmongamericansto0000mote|url-access=registration|accessdate=21 July 2012|year=2004|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-1832-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/hmongamericansto0000mote/page/119 119]}} Opium production is not uncommon in Nong Het district.
References
{{Reflist}}
Vàng kham nong het
- [http://www.childfund.org.au/nonghet#GCN Global Community Nonghet - ChildFund Australia] Supporting 12 villages in Nonghet district